Monday, October 11, 2010

MYARTSPACE CEO, Catherine McCormack-Skiba's mother is Lois Foley. When Skiba lauched MYARTSPACE.com back in 2004 she dedicated the artist's website to her mother.

After 10 years in storage, Lois Foley's art is going to auction. Bonhams & Butterfield of San Francisco is including her painting, Acclivium V, at auction with other 20th Century artist. Her work is one of the few abstracts in this current lot of artwork. Thousands of Foley's drawings and paintings are with her daughter Catherine McCormack-Skiba. A long battle of possession and legal ownership after Foley passed away in 2000; McCormack-Skiba was force to protect her mother's art work. MYARTSPACE.com displays her mother's art.

This website is an online social network which helps artists display their work to a global audience. For more information on Lois Foley go to www.askart.com or http://www.myartspace.com/lfoley.

Foley is well known in the Burlington, VT area where she painted, taught classes and exhibited her art.

Foleys work, Acclivium V, will be on display, both online and at the auction.

How to Buy at Bonhams & Butterfields

There are a few important things to know about buying at auction before you begin. You should also read the Buyer's Guide located in the catalog for sale-specific information.

* Learn about the property that is for sale * Decide which bidding method is best for you * Familiarize yourself with our Buyer's Premium * Familiarize yourself with the Conditions of Sale specific to the property you are buying

Auctions are free and open to the general public. Watching an auction live from one of the galleries is a great way to become familiar with the auction process. If you have any questions about the auction process, please feel free to ask one of our staff members for guidance.

At Bonhams & Butterfields, you can bid in many ways: in person, via absentee bid, or over the phone. Absentee bids can be submitted in person, online, via fax or email. Artwork up for auction at:

Monday, September 27, 2010

Two professors at The Art Institute of Chicago have published a new book, The Studio Reader, a compendium of essays by different artists and theorists concerning both the physical and conceptual space where art is made it. What's so interesting about the text is how it undresses so many popular notions about what and where a studio is. Cultural imagination has long been dominated by images of the studio as a illusive and esoteric, if not magical, space where the isolated artist spends sleepless nights facing down the muses. Countless photographs in contemporary catalogs share this idea, be they of Francis Bacon's mare's nest London, or Jackson Pollock's cramped barn in East Hampton, or Bruce Nauman's ranch in New Mexico. Most working artists have different ideas about their studio: yes, it is a place where lightning is said to occasionally strike, but it is also a place where coffee is brewed, the paper is read, the dog takes a nap. What does the studio mean to you, and where is it? For some the studio is a free-standing garage, for others a converted store front, for some the kitchen table. Where is your place of practice?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Art Critic Jerry Saltz appears to have endured a few professional barbs due to his involvement with Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. The reality show pitted fourteen emerging artists against each other for a $100,000 prize and an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Now that the first season is over-- Saltz is licking his wounds in that he is admitting-- at least from what I gather from his article-- that Work of Art: The Next Great Artist was a bad move for the respectability of art and perhaps a bad move for his career as an art critic.

Monday, September 13, 2010

As the Senior Editor of MYARTSPACE.com it is not uncommon for me to receive requests for advice from artists. One of the most asked about subjects happens to be focused on selling art online. It is safe to say that I receive at least a dozen to well over a hundred versions of this questions per month on Facebook, Twitter, or by email. Thus, I feel that I should tap into this question once again even though I know that I’ve covered it before on the Myartspace Blog.

Monday, September 06, 2010

50 finalists, 3 winners, work represented at SCOPE Miami 2010 Art Show December 1-5, 2010 at the same time as Art Basel Miami Beach Art Fair.

http://www.myartspace.com/ is sponsoring a juried art competition. The jury panel will select 50 finalists from those registered for the competition that have submitted their work for review. Out of 50 finalists, three winners will be selected to have two pieces of their work represented at the SCOPE Miami 2010 Art Fair. Additionally, 50 finalists will have 2 pieces of their work displayed digitally at the Fair. See, http://www.myartspace.com/miamibasel/

Saturday, September 04, 2010

When Groundbreaking Artists Become Kitsch Where Does it Leave the Rest of Us?

One negative aspect of the information driven times we live in-- and how it is reflected in our culture-- is the fact that great artists from the recent past often become kitsch figureheads. Take for example Frida Kahlo-- who is now more apt to be admired as a tattoo than heard about in a worth-while discussion about art. The history behind her work and the importance of what she achieved is often forgotten in exchange for a watered down reflection of who she was and what her artwork represented.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

There's an old and dusty question kicking around metaphysics: what exactly is truth? Is something truthful if it corresponds to reality? Is something truthful if it is useful in describing the universe? I should approach this question with the appropriate caution: there is an answer there, but I am in no position to find it; I am an artist, not a mathematician or metaphysician. Formulating these sorts of truth finding equations has never been part of the job description. And yet truth, of some kind, does seem relevant to the way we talk and think about art.

The question-- Do artists need to have a blog in order to obtain the exposure they desire online? I’d say yes. If an artist, specifically an emerging artist, wants to reap the rewards of gaining exposure online it is vital to have a digital podium to stand on, so to speak. A blog devoted to your art is more important today than ever due to the popularity of websites such as Twitter and Facebook-- and other sites that cater to link exchanges and the delivery of information online. However, keep in mind that using a blog as a tool for exposure is only as strong as the content of your blog.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

MYARTSPACE.com has launched the 3rd annual juried MYARTSPACE Art Scholarship competition. The myartspace.com art scholarship competition involves $16,000 in cash scholarships and is free to enter for undergraduate and graduate art students worldwide. The deadline for the 2010 competition is December 12. All that is needed is a free account on myartspace.com to enter-- the scholarship competition is free to enter. Students who register early will also receive a free 3-month trial of Premium membership on the site. The competition jury will be lead by MYARTSPACE Founder Catherine McCormack-Skiba. For more information visit, http://www.myartspace.com/scholarships/

Thursday, August 19, 2010

It has been said that artists-- or at least their artwork-- have a way of bringing people together. However, the opposite can easily be said. After all, some artists make a career-- intentionally or unintentionally-- out of being forced into the role of social and political provocateur. One need only visit a New York City art gallery, read a mainstream art magazine, or visit any of the top art museums to take note of how controversial works of art dominate by seeping into our cultural dialogue. More often than not said works spur notions of hostility rather than some ideal of peace. Yet the romantic image of ‘the artist’ as great communicator and bridge builder persists.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I read an article in passing recently that asked the question, “What does the public want from art?”. The article-- which, if memory serves me correct was featured in the Illinois Times, focused on current art market trends and the complications between what the public desires to view compared to what is coveted by art institutions and galleries. The piece targeted regional artwork and the local art scene-- however, this rather broad question obviously has global appeal. After all, in the last decade alone we have seen various forms of protest throughout the world concerning art and how and where it is viewed-- and what should be viewed.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Anyone familiar with the myartspace blog knows that I have issue with some of the opinions of Shepard Fairey concerning copyright and appropriation-- to the point that my opinions on the matter have been quotes by the Boston Globe and other news sources. I’m not going to go into detail about the Fairey vs. AP case because it has been covered before on this blog and the information is fairly easy to find with a mere Google search. However, I will make it clear that I do not think that-- as Fairey suggests-- his stance concerning the AP is one of “fighting” the good fight to “ protect the rights of all artists”-- as mentioned on his Obey website, http://www.obeygiant.com/

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Life today, in many ways, is driven by online social networking. Everyone from garage band musicians to presidential hopefuls realize the power of having a strong social network online-- and power in the online social networking realm is based, though I suppose would could debate this, on numbers. To put it bluntly, if you want to reap the rewards of exposure online you need to take advantage of social networking and that means having ‘friends’-- lots of them.

Monday, August 09, 2010

I decided to mark my return to writing for myartspace by interviewing one of our Featured artists-- Lauren Utter. As stated on Utter‘s myartspace profile, “New Jersey native Lauren Utter found her escape from the banality of suburban life through the subculture of punk rock. Though she briefly attended the School of Visual Arts, Lauren's work is more influenced by her adventures panhandling in New York's Lower East Side, hopping freight trains, and generally experiencing life in the gutter. Finding herself moved by the people and experiences encountered on the fringes of society, she seeks to share these stories through her work.”

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Rubbing Elbows or Breaking Arms: How Best to Respond to Art Critics in the Information Age

Before I venture into the grit of the topic above I wish to make something clear. I rank Edward Winkleman, Paddy Johnson, and Hrag Vartanian-- among others-- as examples of the top art bloggers writing today. While I enjoy their critical writings and insight-- I don’t always agree with their views. I’m certain they don’t always agree with me for that matter. That said, I have issue with a recent post by Edward Winkleman that I would like to tackle today. It is by no means a gesture of disrespect that I do so- and I’m taking it on because it is a topic I’ve wrestled with in the past. Game on…

Saturday, July 24, 2010

It is safe to say that anyone with Internet access or a television has heard about Mel Gibson’s recent tape rants. Needless to say, I could not resist posting these gems of hilarity. Apparently they have been floating around Facebook. What can I say-- the Art of Mel. How is that for social commentary?

BBC reports that a promotional model cow located near Damien Hirst’s exhibit at Torre Abbey in Devon has been stolen “several times“ despite an increase in security measures. The model cow-- used to promote Hirst’s Mother & Child Divided-- has been found in various places-- normally “grazing“ near the exhibit location. However, the cow has not been found since the last theft.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Since the advent of the Internet visual artists have been caught in a maelstrom between easy-- and accessible-- exposure for their art as well as the potential for images of their art to be used in ways they do not agree with-- in a sense, stolen. While it is true that the Internet has spurred a new form of art theft-- it has also paved the way for artists to gain exposure without the need for additional expenses that were warranted in the years before the World Wide Web. Thus, the desire-- easy exposure aside-- to protect ones work online is often a hot topic with visual artists from all walks of life and levels of professionalism.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How has the recession-- and all the financial woes we have faced in recent years-- shaped the art world? Has the art market taken a step back or a step forward? Do emerging artists have an advantage or disadvantage due to the recession as far as making a name for themselves? Will we see an evolution-- or revolution- within the art world as to what is viewed as visionary? These are questions that I recently discussed with some of my associates.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Within minutes of posting “Artist Statements say Nothing when Plagiarism is Involved” I received some criticism on Facebook. The artist-- who asked to remain anonymous for this article-- stated that the artwork itself is the only statement that an artist needs. He went on to say that various forms of art writing by artists should not reflect more than the artwork itself. The artist went on to suggest that other forms of art writing, such as exhibit reviews and the opinion of art critics, are “point blank useless”. It was clear that this individual is of the opinion that artists should only speak visually-- and that art writing only serves as a means of mental masturbation, so to speak. I’d say that art writing-- at least some of it-- is of “point blank” importance-- and that some of us love to get ‘off‘.

Since my involvement with http://www.myartspace.com/ it is safe to say that I’ve viewed the artwork of thousands of artists-- probably more in the hundreds of thousands-- online. I can remember days when it was not uncommon for me to view the work of at least 300 artists on a routine daily basis-- a constant search for potential interviews. Needless to say, I've viewed a lot of artwork and have read many artist statements as Senior Editor. Thus, I have learned to key in on potential problems concerning the statements of artists and the manner in which they gain exposure online.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

I am gathering information to write about "Call For Entry” for visual artists. If you know of any contests, competitions or open calls with a deadline this summer or fall, send me the information. I am looking for museums, universities and brick and mortar galleries. Please no online galleries because MYARTSPACE has its own gallery devoted to selling works at NYAXE.After doing some research, I am hoping to add some information to my blog and update it monthly.I have had quite a bit of experience submitting my work to galleries and museums back when I was actively working in that direction. I know how frustrating it is to sift through all the crap out there. “How do we know what type of gallery is calling for entry?”I used to look through Art Week for the latest call for entry; but they have gone by the wayside as of February 2010. Now, with the ubiquitous internet there are more and more scams. I will work very diligently to get some viable information very soon. In the mean time, I do know that some places are better than others in regard to visibility.

First of all, ask yourself why you want to show your work? Is it only to sell your work, or craving recognition, or just to get your art out there; "as we say in the art world?" Well, where is out there? If you look on the internet there are plenty of sites devoted to "call for entry" but most of them charge a yearly subscription. They aren’t too expensive but which one or two are the best?

I had friend of mine go through all the trouble in the submission process just to get into a tiny gallery way out in the middle of a wheat field in Nebraska. Not that there is anything wrong with Nebraska; but getting your art into show, after all the hard work put into making the art, preparing it to show and shipping it off, it seems like you would want to show in a place where plenty of people will see your art work.

Now, if you put in all that effort in making the art, getting it in order on CDs and DVDs, labeled, size/medium and all the other requests on the detailed prospectus, where are you going to show your work? It is always best to start close to home. If you are an emerging artist there are plenty of shows for artists who have just earned their MFA or have a limited number of shows under their belt. But for the people who have hit a ceiling and passed the emerging artist status, it becomes harder and harder to find quality places to submit work.

I know a woman who made up almost 300 portfolios and took them around to galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Europe. She only got into one show and that was in Pacifica, California. Her work was great but no one cared to even look at it. She heard people laugh at her as she left a few of the galleries. I really felt bad for her. I don’t know what happened to her after she moved to New York but I hope she got off the ground.I know there are many ways to get work shown but I will stick to “Open Calls For Entry” and “Artist’s Call For Entry.” Some of the “calls for art” may state their desire to look at an artist’s work for an upcoming show.

They may be looking for a certain theme or they want any genre of fresh art for an open call. Sometimes this work is shelved for future shows. They may be named, “call for entry” “call for art” “call for artist” but they all are requesting artist’s to send in examples of there work to their jury or selection committee. I am sure most of you already know this but I am just answering some of the questions from readers about this topic.I will start with the competitions I know myself, do a bit more research and hopefully I will get plenty of information from "out there."

Of course I have to let you know about what MYARTSPACE has to offer in terms of competitions. The Scholarship competition is very successful for students and a few different competitions are coming up. I will keep you posted.

Let me know what you are interested in and what you would like to find out about art competitions.

I want to let you know about a “Call For Entry” in San Francisco where years ago a colleague of mind won and was almost sued for slander. I will just leave that information at that and move on. Look over the prospectus and see if your art would fit in the category.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

May is a busy time for Universities. In the art world, the Master’s Thesis Fine Art Exhibitions is one of the most pivotal moments in an artist life. Millions of art collectors, patrons of the arts, curators, critics, other artists and friends descend on campuses to view the art of students just about to enter the competitive art market. Because these students have been studying innovative ideas, collaboration, style and refinement of their work for the last two or three years, their art may be on the cutting edge waiting to be to be scooped up by collectors. Students will use this work to contact galleries and competitions to start, or extend their art career.

I looked up MFA Thesis shows and found a few in the Bay Area. The three I picked are not a reflection of the best art work in this area; but they are the shows I had time to visit, read about or view online. I did notice most of the artists did not have their own web page -- to easily access through their University’s MFA show web site. Or could I find them on any social web site. I believe having a place to share their art would be an important tool for student to learn in this age of social networking.

It is a well know fact, if you want to start collecting art -- go to MFA Thesis Shows. Student artists are very interested in selling their art, at no commission to a gallery, for great prices.

Don’t be surprised if you run into artist egos because these students are coming off a high where they were on top of their world.

MillsCollege MFA Exhibition 2010

Exhibition Dates: May 2−30, 2010

My first adventure was to MillsCollege in Oakland. The name of their Thesis Show is Between You and Me. The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Hanor, Director of the Mills College Art Museum.Between You and Me features work by:

Monica Lundy's investigations of historical California criminals manifest, of women who were in prison, in a series of paintings and sculpture that explore identity perception in relation to systems of social classification.

This body of work was inspired by prison archival photographs from the California State Archives in Sacramento.

These oil and gouache portraits of female inmates and the application of wet clay to the gallery wall diluted paint that pools, bleeds, and separates as it dries, creates an effect of staining or erosion; or wet clay on the wall that leaves as evidence only a trace of what was there before. “Working in this way conjures mental parallels to the corrosive nature of time on material things,” Lundy said.

Lundy has already had numerous exhibitions and has studied in painting in Florence, Italy. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. You can view more of her work at www.monicalundy.com.

This work and the other 2010 MFA student’s work can be seen through the end of this month.

If you can only make it to one show and really want to see a cross section of what’s happening in the contemporary art world you can’t miss the “San Francisco Art Institute MFA Graduate Exhibition, Vernissage. This show will feature work by nearly 100 artists graduating from the SF Art Institute this year.

Solis was born in Puebla, México but moved to Costa Rica, where she obtained her BFA in Visual Arts at the National University (UNA) in printmaking with teachers such as Adrián Arguedas and Rudy Espinoza.

Her work is focused at the moment in the symbolism behind games and playful actions, using techniques such as printmaking, as well as video, animation and three-dimensional objects. In her thesis work she found discarded objects on the sidewalks in a couple of San Francisco neighborhoods. She copied the objects and printed them out on paper or on currency.

She plans to go back to Costa Rica and find job that gives her time to do her art. She also wants to open a workshop-studio-art coop.

She has also shown her work in such places as Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, the Costa Rican National Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) in San José and the SUNY Gallery in New Paltz, New York.

Seven emerging, prolific artists present new work in textiles, sculpture, painting, conceptual and information arts, photography and printmaking. Showcasing the creativity and diversity in the SF State Art Department’s rigorous, competitive three-year M.F.A. program, these artists all exhibit their works actively throughout Northern California.

Luke Damiani’s wood and metal sculpture presents as a statement on industrialism’s crude beginnings. These machines would have little use with today’s rapid farming practices. Along any highway in California old broken-down tractors, plows and carts can been seen rusting away. This work reminds me of a representation of the once thriving agrarian culture.

Damiani say,

"Machinery in the modern age augments human activities, making tasks easier to perform, or freeing up labor altogether. Prior to the materialization of machinery though, people imagined mythical machines that aided them in navigating the supernatural. Both realized and imagined machinery are indicative of man’s desire to invent forms that could provide freedom from the constraints of time and place."

Damiani received his BFA from the CaliforniaCollege of Arts & Crafts, Oakland before attending to San FranciscoStateUniversity. He has worked as a gallery assistant during his time at college and will continue to show his work.

After all the research I did through the internet I found it difficult to find accessible images of students’ work at University MFA Programs. The Master Thesis Shows' Art should be easy to find and the artists work displayed. I didn’t have all that much luck in the Bay Area finding good web sites. But I did find two from other states -- that go right to the MFA students’ thesis show. Why do most colleges neglect to have students work easily available to view on the internet? Shouldn't learning how to display their art on the internet be on the curriculum? There are too many unorganized, ugly, non-productive sites around that do more harm than good for the visibility of fresh art from the energetic group of recent graduates.

Go to these sites to see if they are easy to look through.

Emerging and established artist need to understand how to show their work through the World Wide Web.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Someone has stolen SpeperdFrairy iconic art, “HOPE.” But I don't think he can do anything about it. A web site is already dedicated to allowing people to add their image to the “HOPE” design to render an image similar to Frairy’s work.

I was so excited I looked up who is using it and found an interesting mix of people joining in on the fun. It is sort of like doing graffiti art on the internet.

Some of the design templates reflect the “HOPE” poster closely and others just give it a hint of Frairy's work. The more I looked around the more I found uses of his work as a money making operation. An appropriation via an iconic piece of artwork. If you would like to see some more information on what you can do to get a copy of an artists work and mess with it, like painting a mustache on the “Mono Lisa,”see what Paste Magazine has to offer.

Paste Magazine says in a short explanation of what the site did after appropriating Fairey's work:
"Paste Magazine launched Obamicon shortly before President Obama's inauguration in January. The site allowed users to make images of them in the style of Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" poster. The site received over a million visitors in its first month, with over 1.25 millionwebicons created to date. Iranicon is the third official webicon, following "Luvicon" and Obamicon. Paste has also produced webicons for Green for Alland the Atlanta Hawks." I wonder what Fairey thinks about this? This magazine is raking in the bucks from advertizing because of the interest in this little project.

Over a million webicons created. Now we have a new word for the dictionary webicons?

HOW I FOUND THE OBAMICON

Someone sent me an attachment of this band that has exploded the Internet with their music. The neo-punk-rap-rave-band Die Atwood (The Answer) has no respect. They not only took on the adoption of Frairy's work they use it for advertising for their music. However, Die Antwoord says they have no respect for anything political or commercial. Like punk and rap music, Die Antwoord spews its share of profanity at the audiences and airwaves. Some of the portrayals are sort of corny for me like their use of the Ninja. It is funny and goofy but some how it works. Their message is clear there language is not.

I spray painted over a word on the poster to the left because it is one of the seven dirty words a journalist is forbidden to use (thanks George Carlin). Although it is not the same spelling as in our culture it translates the same. If you haven't guessed what that word is I can give you the first letter, f. It would give me a lot of joy to have left the word as it was, but heck just Google it. Some people are very offended by these words so we must obey the law or should I say perceived law.

A bit of information on this band -- the members grew up in the same trailer park in South Africa and their music is about poverty, culture, hate and racism. Their use of English is difficult for me to understand. But I am sure I can guess what most of the words say. What I have seen is a group of people mimicking anything they can to get a response.

Let me get back to the art work the band evokes. What is interesting, besides the uses of Frairy's “HOPE” poster, was their visual art in their videos, posters, and mostly from their fans. Their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/DieAntwoord is set up for fans to comment, share photos and to display some of their own art work. It looks nothing like my family's Facebook page, by the way. Some of this work is very good but you have to sift through a lot of band photos to get to pieces like the one below of Yolandi.

The artist is a fan and admirer from South Africa. It looks nothing like my family's Facebook page, by the way. Some of this work is very good but you have to sift through a lot of band photos to get to pieces like the one below of Yolandi. The artist is a fan and admirer from South Africa.

Just because the art is coming from the influence of music and it may be appropriated by armature artist. It could be classified into a genre of art much like Frairy’s graffiti art. The groups parody of contemporary genres of art and music. It funny and fresh. I can't say I am going to follow their current popularity on the "inter-web" Internet, but I do have a lot of questions about why they decided to use Frairy's work to portray their image. Maybe it just crossed the minds of the band members. Almost every aspect of this band is an appropriation. I am sure they would just say “F--- it.

It is very important to note sometimes the truth is better told by artists. The issues of racism in South Africa runs deep. We in America my think we are century’s away from institutionalized racism; but are we?

“As South Africa's democracy has matured the race issue has intensified, deepened, and become more problematic. It can still be expressed in the crudest possible manner, as happened last week when a white farmer in the Free State province dragged a black man - with a wire tied to his ankle - for five kilometers behind his pick-up truck. The black man died, yet another victim of all-too-frequent race murders in a liberated South Africa.”Justice Malala, London correspondent for the South African Sunday Times.

I hope you have time to take a peek at Paste Magazine and do yourself up into a piece of artwork. Send me your images as you do them and I will collect and post them to this blog.

Thanks to Speaperd Frairy we all have hope.

My Facebook friend Steve took advantage of the Paste Magazine Obomicon me web site and did a nice job on his self portrait.

If you like to email me or send me your Obomicon me images send it to:

Monday, April 05, 2010

If you go online and google “fine art online galleries” you will find a page filled with names of established galleries. It may be difficult to find a gallery that gives major support to the artist because a gallery is in the business to sell art and always has been. I thought I would find a different field of art and collectors on these types of web galleries, but I didn’t. In the galleries it is “business as usual.” For example, artnet.com says “The Network serves dealers and art buyers alike,” it says nothing about supporting artists’ ideas, works and talents.

This didn’t really surprise me but for some reason I thought the internet would host a multitude of artists’ communities.Some of the work for sale on that site is antique art, design galleries and decorative art; however, there is no physical address for the site. It represents established galleries all over the world. I browsed through and looked at the online auctions to see what’s for sale. It was worth looking at the art and seeing the prices set for this online auction. Over 300 pieces were exhibited for sale with an auction deadline. This sort of auction is set up much like EBay were you submit a bid and wait for the deadline. I don’t know if works of art are flying off the virtual wall or not, but I do know after the show they won’t have to spackle and paint. This recent form of online gallery is not a new trend it is the wave of the future.

I would like to say that the internet should be owned by “the people” but that is just my ideological way of saying there is no corporate enterprise gaining from its use. Well, I know that isn’t true but I like to think the mass majority controls what is important.

When I get a chance to browse through art gallery sites I get lost in the individual pieces that relate to my inner senses. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to gallery openings and sitting in front of works of art contemplating. I get excited when museums bring rare arts I would never be able to see if not for the work of all the dedicated curators.

Because I live on the West Coast of the U.S., I tend to look at sites where I may be able to visit if I just have to go see the work. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art site caught my eye one day and it had a large collection of images I recognized. I found a particular artist’s work I hadn’t seen in years. The excitement I had over discovering that he was still working in the same medium and had some recent work I could study, gave me a feeling of gratitude.

The internet helps me discovery artist I know and opens my awareness to know works. In the past, I may have never been able to know such art and artists existed. The multitude of art sites gives me a chance to explore new and exciting spaces.

Some of the most intriguing of my discoveries were on MYARTSPACE.com. A host of emerging, current and established artist peaked my interest so much one night I spent hours scouring over the works and being mesmerized by what I was viewing.

Now, it only takes me a few minutes to find someone with ideas I can relate to by browsing on MYARTSPACE.com. I have found no other sites like this, and I am sure, the number of artists who post their work to be viewed by millions, give them a feeling of accomplishment and some much needed cash selling their own work. This site gives fine artists their own wall on a page as if it was their personal website and they get to show what is important to them. Thousands and thousands of artists can respond to the world with no huge entry fee.

I fully understand there is nothing compared to viewing a physical piece of artwork but I can pinpoint works of profound creativity in just a few minutes. Sure, I can go the museum sites, gallery sites or sites like artnet to lull my senses, but nothing can replicate the sheer delight I have when I find a piece of art work on MYARTSPACE.com that is so compelling I just have to study it in detail.

This is why I enjoy the intimacy of the internet, even though it is called the World-Wide-Web, I can view and linger as long as I want. Because of this connection I feel like I just tapped into the future. Having a site like MYARTSPACE.com is helping keep the “medium as the message” by giving to the majority of the artists critiquing the artistic relevance.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

What exactly does it take to create an artwork? What conditions need to be met for an artist to take ownership of an object? The precedent set by Duchamp seems to suggest that all an artist needs to do is to stake a claim to a thing, that the relevant part of artmaking is not the act of constructing an object, but creating an idea. Art history seems to confirm this claim, but is this valid? What and where exactly are the limits?

I've been thinking a lot about the recent Tino Segal show at the Guggenheim, and what exactly it means for him to claim artistic ownership of a couple embracing, as he does in his piece Kiss. Here Segal takes a ubiquitous human activity and stamps it as his own. Does he get away with it? And is it really art? Or, perhaps more importantly, is the 'artness' of it really a meaningful question? Perhaps what is relevant now is not the question 'is it art,' but rather 'should we care.'

Fortunately there's an iphone app that can help with these questionable cases of artistic identity. The pocket-sized program analyzes your photos and calculates if whatever you're looking at is, in fact, art. (Unfortunately this will be little help in with Segal case, who has prohibited photography of his pieces.) While this app might be the latest gag put out by the Pittsburgh based Mattress Factory, the tongue-in-cheek tech piece asks a larger and more serious question: to what extent is the label 'art' an interesting and relevant distinction? If the Duchampian vision of obliterating the line between life and art has indeed been successful - and we can argue with some conviction that it has been given a few colorful examples like living sculptures Gilbert and George - is there any sense in labeling something art at all?

Untitled (AfterSherrieLevine.com/2.jpg)

Michael Mandiberg, 3250px x 4250px (at 850dpi), 2001

What, if any, are the limits of this? How about claiming someone else's art as your own? Sherrie Levine has made a career out of this, rephotographing Walker Evans depression era photos in the late 70's, and later reproducing Duchamp's Fountain in gold. Her move was repeated in the early 2000's by Micheal Mandiberg, who scanned both the Evans and Levine photographs and uploaded them to his website where they can be printed with a certificate of authenticity as original Maniberg's.

What about having someone make every part of your work for you? Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons have been doing this for years, and while it may upset the likes of Dennis Dutton and Stuckism International, the art world at large seems to ask few questions about these objects.

Call me young and naïve, but intuitively I'm still somewhat uncomfortable with an artist who claims ownership of other people's work. I certainly don't want to advocate throwing them out of the pantheon of art, but I think it's very important that we consider who actually made the artwork as part of the piece's conceptual core. Part of the value of Warhol's commentary was that he wasn't making his objects, and that they would have meant something different if he was. The question going forward is whether or not this same applies to artists like Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Kehinde Wiley, or Tino Segal. Whether their participation, or lack of participation, in the creation of their artwork helps or harms the piece itself.

Friday, March 26, 2010

The universal communication and internet symbol @ has been acquired by MoMA. When I first saw this news release I wondered how a museum could own a symbol in their collection. I went to their website, http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/architecture_design, and looked around. I didn’t find any other symbol like this that wasn’t attached to an overall image or model; however, I did find what the MoMA is saying about the @ symbol as an acquisition.

MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Designs says the acquisition of the @ symbol means it is no longer a necessary requirement to have physical possession of an object. They acknowledge things that “cannot be had” because they are too big -- like buildings, airplanes and installations, but they go on to say the same criteria of quality, relevance, and overall excellences shared by all objects in MoMA’s collection also apply to these entities. So @ is sharing the same criteria as all objects acquired; but they are now called entities not objects. As I looked around on the MoMA website I didn’t see any other entities so widely used freely by the public. So if @ cannot be had, what is the purpose of having it in MoMA’s collection?

The @ symbol is not an objet to own. So MoMa put the image of the symbol in the graphic design collection which includes typography, posters, and other combinations of text and image.I guess that @ fits into that category of art, but its free use is what makes it so important. I started to think about what other symbols have been so widely used in the world without, any sort of religious hinge, and I couldn’t think of any. @ crosses all lines of culture, beliefs, freedoms and attachment. Its free use is what makes it such a global symbol.

When I looked up the history of @ on Wikipedia I found the most compelling part to be the computer history; Ray Tomlinson, American electrical engineer developed a computer system to send messages to different computers through his network. He noticed the underused @ symbol already on the keyboard. In 1971 Tomlinson appropriated @ to use for his first email. This is what makes this little symbol so important to the world? Anyone with a computer, cell phone or any other type of social, communication or information devise knows the importance of @.

Maybe its acquisition by MoMA is to honor the @. I think most users already know this. Wikipedia had some ancient history on @ I found interesting but it is nothing like its use today.Thinking about how to collect an artistic idea made from an installation, performance or thought has proved to be challenging for museums and galleries. Taking a photo of these does not depict the moment in time when it happened.

It is like a good play or concert, once the lights are off it is clearly never going to be the same, can’t be owned. But money was made from the performance. The @ symbol is our work-horse. Maybe it is achieving sainthood. The MoMa tried to explain this acquisition by saying “it sets curators free to tag the world and acknowledge things that “cannot be had.”

Tag the world? I guess to acknowledge things makes since. I wonder if this is going to start a new form of collection. What is the next symbol to be added to their collection?